BALA CYNWYD, Pa., July 9, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- A pending class action Duke Energy Corporation ("Duke Energy" or the "Company") (NYSE:DUK) between July 22, 1999 and May 17, 2002 with misleading investors about its business and financial condition according to the law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP.
The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Plaintiff seeks damages for violations of the federal securities laws on behalf of all investors who purchased Duke Energy Corporation securities between July 22, 1999 and May 17, 2002 (the "Class Period").
Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP has prosecuted shareholder class actions for over fourteen years and has recovered more than $1 billion for investors. If you are a shareholder of Duke Energy Corporation and want to learn more about this lawsuit and about becoming a lead plaintiff, you may visit our website at http://www.sbclasslaw.com/cgi/signup.cgi.
The complaint alleges that the North Carolina-based Duke Energy Corporation issued numerous statements and filed quarterly and annual reports with the SEC which described the Company's increasing revenues and financial performance. These statements were materially false and misleading because they failed to disclose and/or misrepresented the following adverse facts, among others: (I) that the Company had engaged in approximately $1 billion of "round-trip" energy trades that provided no economic benefit for the Company; (ii) that the Company lacked the necessary internal controls to adequately monitor the trading of its power; and (iii) that as a result, the value of the Company's revenues and financial results were materially overstated at all relevant times.
On May 17, 2002, the last day of the Class Period, the Company issued a press release announcing that it had "analyzed its trades for the three-year period from 1999 through 2001 to identify those trades which may have some of the characteristics of sell/buy-back trades." These trades, known as "round-trip" or "wash" transactions, involve the simultaneous buying and trading of power in the same price and same amount and provide no economic benefit to the Company. Following this announcement, shares of Duke Energy fell $1.18 per share to close at $33.52 per share, after reaching a split-adjusted Class Period high of $44.97 on November 30, 2000, on volume of more than 11.5 million shares traded, or more than three times the average daily volume.
If you purchased Duke Energy Corporation securities between July 22, 1999 and May 17, 2002, you may be a member of the class and have until July 22, 2002 to move the court to become a lead plaintiff. In order to serve as lead plaintiff, however, you must meet certain legal requirements. To be a member of the class, however, you do not need to take any action at this time. Should you decide to seek appointment as a lead plaintiff, you may retain Schiffrin & Barroway, or retain counsel of your choice.
To learn more about your rights and interests in this case and your ability to potentially recoup your losses, please contact Schiffrin & Barroway (Marc A. Topaz, Esq. or Stuart L. Berman, Esq.) directly at 888-299-7706 (toll free) or 610-822-2221, fax number 610-822-0002, e-mail at info@sbclasslaw.com or visit our website at www.sbclasslaw.com.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca.